Southern Italian Pesto

Southern Italian Pesto
with Capers, Raisins and Anchovy.
One of Sicily's Pesto Traditions

Southern Italian pesto sauces are spicy, salty and sweet and this pesto recipe takes all those flavors from local ingredients like raisins, anchovies and capers to create this amazing sauce.

Other local ingredients like almonds which take the place of the pine nut create a real "to the tooth" crunch and bold flavor, and parsley instead of basil pull this pasta sauce recipe all together.

Southern Italians love it spicy and you'll rarely find a Italian recipe in that region without at least a few crushed red peppers in it. They omit the perfect amount of heat just as they do in this pesto recipe.

But hold the parmigiano! If you use cheese, which to be honest with you I don't think you need, you should you a pecorino rather then parmigiano and you should add it to the pasta not the pesto. Pecorino is bolder and saltier and will stand up to this pesto.

You'll be amazingly surprised by the crazy flavors that will take turns tantalizing your taste buds. You'll feel each sweet, tangy then salty, spice dancing on your tongue.

So if you have an eclectic palate like I do you are going to love this easy pasta sauce recipe.

Begin with:

Pesto:
cup boiling water
cup golden raisins
2 Tbsp capers
1 cup fresh Italian parsley (leaves only)
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 Anchovies
1 Tbsp diced shallots
tsp crushed red peppers
Olive oil

Preparation:

Combine boiling water and raisins in a small bowl; let stand for 30 minutes then drain.
Combine raisins and remaining ingredients (NOT THE OLIVE OIL YET) in a food processor and blend on chop until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the Olive oil, as much as you like but don't make it to liquid or oily.
Now add the Olive oil and process until blended.